538 Chapter 16 Cost Accounting and Capital Cost Estimation

Crystallizers
Most industrial crystallization operations are solution crystallization involving the crystal-
lization of inorganic compounds from aqueous solutions. Only the inorganic compound crys -
tallizes. However, a growing number of applications are being made for melt crystallization,
which involves a mixture of two or more organic components whose freezing points are not
far removed from each other. In that case, impure crystals (solid solutions) may be obtained
that require repeated melting and freezing steps to obtain pure crystals of the component with
the highest freezing temperature. Only solution crystallization is considered here.
Solution crystallization occurs from a supersaturated aqueous solution, which is achieved
from the feed by cooling, evaporation, or a combination of cooling and evaporation. The ap-
plication of cooling crystallization is limited because for many dissolved inorganic com -
pounds, the decrease in solubility with decreasing temperature is not sufficient to make the
method practical. Therefore, evaporative crystallizers are more common. Table 16.32 con -
tains f.o.b. purchase costs for four types of crystallizers. The continuous jacketed scraped-
wall crystallizer is based on length, which can be estimated by a heat-transfer rate using a
scraped-surface cooling area of 3 ft 2 per foot of length and an overall heat transfer coefficient
of 20 Btu/hr-ft 2-T. The heat transfer rate is obtained by an energy balance that accounts for
both sensible heat and the heat of crystallization. The purchase costs of continuous forced-
circulation evaporative crystallizers or the popular continuous draft-tube baffled (DTB) crys-
tallizers are based on the rate of production of crystals in tons (2,000 lbs) per day. The
purchase cost of batch evaporative crystallizers, which usually operate under vacuum, de -
pends on the vessel size.

Drives Other than Electric Motors

When the required shaft horsepower for power input to an item of process equipment is less
than 100 Hp, an electric motor is usually the selected drive. For higher horsepower input,
consideration is given to combustion gas turbines, steam turbines, and internal combustion
gas engines. However, except for remote, mobile, or special situations, steam turbines are the
most common alternative to electric motors. Furthermore, steam turbines are considerably
more efficient, 50-80%, than gas turbines or engines, which have efficiencies of only
30-40%. Equations for f.o.b. purchase costs of steam and gas turbine drives are included in
Table 16.32 as a function of shaft horsepower.

Dryers
No single drying device can handle efficiently the wide variety of feed materials, which in -
cludes granular solids, pastes, slabs, films, slurries, and liquid. Accordingly, many different
types of commercial dryers have been developed for both continuous and batchwise opera -
tion. Batch dryers include tray and agitated types. Continuous dryers include tunnel, belt,
tray, direct and indirect rotary, screw conveyor, fluidized-bed, spouted-bed, pneumatic-
conveyor, spray, drum, infrared, dielectric, microwave, and freeze types. The selection and
sizing of dryers often involves testing on a pilot-plant level. The f.o.b. purchase costs for
several of the more widely used dryers are included in Table 16.32. Different size factors are
used depending on the type of dryer. In the batch compartment dryer, the feed is placed in
stacked trays over which hot air passes. Trays typically measure 30 X 30 X 3 in. Typical
drying time is a few hours. The cost depends on the tray surface area.
Two types of rotary dryers are available for continuous drying. In the direct-heat type,
longitudinal flights, which extend inward radially from the inner periphery of the slightly in -
clined rotating dryer cylinder, lift and shower the granular solids through hot air flowing